Uses for Vinegar in the Home

Vinegar is such a useful substance; it should be sitting on the most special shelf in your pantry. There are endless uses for it, mostly as a cleaning agent. Really its only limitation is that it should NOT be mixed with any other household chemicals, namely bleach or any other chlorine-containing substances. Chlorine (the main ingredient in bleach) will chemically react with bleach and produce chlorine gas, which is a poisonous and lethal green-tinted gas. So, keep that in mind while you read through this article on household uses of vinegar.

1. Get Rid of Smoke Odor

Did you just burn that steak or chicken that you left on the pan? Or perhaps your cigar-loving father visited and enjoyed a few cigars in your kitchen or family room. You can remove that smell very easily by using white or cider vinegar. Simply get a shallow bowl and fill up one half to three-quarters of the way full with vinegar. Place the bowl at the center of the odor and within a day the odor should be gone. Another way to get rid of fresh smoke is by wetting a cloth with white or cider vinegar and waving it around the area of the odor.

2. Remove Candle Wax

If you have dried candle wax on surfaces, simply take a blow drier and warm the wax as hot as you can get it. Then dry up as much as you can with a paper towel. Soak another paper towel in 50/50 water/vinegar solution and wipe the reminisce of the candle wax. Finally, wipe the rest up clean with a paper towel.

3. Get Rid of Grease Stains

Grease stains can be a real pain, and the cleaning agents that specialize in grease removal can be quite expensive. So, as an alternative, use white vinegar. Soak a cloth in 50/50 water/vinegar solution and wipe down the surface with the grease stains. Once the vinegar evaporates, the surface will be clean and deodorized.

4. Get Rid of Rust

Did you just find those tools you’d been looking for years? Or how about those ice skates that have sat in the basement for years? Use this trick to remove rust from those tools and ice skates. Simply fill the appropriate size container with white vinegar, and soak the rusty parts in the vinegar for a few days. Eventually the rust will be removed. It’s not the quickest method of rust removal, but it’s very effective and cheap.

5. Clean Lawn Mower Blades

Those lawn mower blades can get especially dirty. Particularly after cutting wet grass. Before you put your mower back in the garage or the shed, get rid of the grass and grass stains by soaking a cloth in white vinegar and rubbing down the blades. This will remove grass, grass stains, and any unwanted insects that may have gotten caught in your mower. This will also increase the life of your lawn mower.

These are just a few of the many tricks that you can use vinegar with. It is a great alternative to expensive name-brand cleaning agents.

This week a team of professional friendly cleaners from The Maids transformed our home by washing floors, counters & woodwork, clearing ceilings webs, vacuuming dust bunnies and dirt from the floors, scrubbing to a shine my kitchen and bathroom tiles (yes, with toothbrushes!!).